New York Jets Trade Pitch Lands San Francisco 49ers Star for First-Round Pick

A New York Jets trade proposal would land Aaron Rodgers an elite weapon from the San Francisco 49ers.

Feb 11, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk (11) makes a catch against Kansas City Chiefs safety Mike Edwards (21) during overtime of Super Bowl LVIII at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

The New York Jets are looking to have one of their best seasons in franchise history this year. With a decade full of disappointments, the expectation and hope within the fan base is that it finally changes.

With a healthy Aaron Rodgers, anything is possible. Rodgers will need to be the same quarterback he was prior to this Achilles injury so that the Jets can be the team they're looking to be, which is a warranted concern for some.

Other additions this offseason should only make the offense better. Possessing arguably the worst offense in football last season, it truly can't get much worse.

General manager Joe Douglas added help on the offensive line and found new weapons for Rodgers, a need after the season they had a year ago.

Instead of putting all the blame on Zach Wilson, Douglas knew this offense wasn't good enough even if Rodgers was playing, a promising sign as a GM.

Frankly, if this season doesn't go as planned for New York, there's a very good chance that Douglas, coach Robert Saleh, and others will be fired.

It's a do-or-die situation, which should leave the Jets to being even more aggressive than they've already been. They'd be doing just that in a proposed trade from Alex Kay of Bleacher Report, trading 2025 first and second-round picks to the San Francisco 49ers for Brandon Aiyuk.

"The Jets would likely need to offer up their top two selections in the 2025 draft to land Aiyuk, but the returns could be immense. It's just the kind of move that a franchise suffering through the longest active streak of seasons without a playoff berth in major American sports needs to become relevant again.

"Mortgaging the future for a vastly improved chance at winning the franchise's second ever Super Bowl—and first since Joe Namath led the Jets to one all the way back in 1968—would be the right call, bringing some much-needed excitement and hope to fans around the Big Apple."

Kay's assessment of the situation is spot on. And from Douglas' perspective, moving the picks makes sense.

There's a chance he doesn't move the picks and the season goes well. However, there's also a scenario where he doesn't move the picks, and the season goes poorly, leading to him getting fired anyway.

Aiyuk would come in and be the WR1.

He posted 1,342 yards with seven touchdowns on 75 receptions last season, his second straight year with over 1,000 yards.